S Y N C H R O N I C I T Y
by Mybookofstories
Summary: A possible ending to Kamisama;; After learning about what occurred in the past, as well as the reasons behind Tomoe's curse marks, what will Nanami do? Perhaps she makes a deal with Kuromaru, the fallen god, in order to save Tomoe. (please read chapter 98 before reading this fic!) [ TomoexNanami; T for language ]
1. 一

_**Note:**__ Hello everyone... due to messages that I have received about Possibilities, I will be continuing that story in this new fanfic called "Synchronicity." Please remember that this is just my view on what I think will happen in the manga written by Suzuki Julietta, Kamisama Hajimemashita. I do not own the characters, or the story itself... this is pure imagination. I do hope that you will enjoy this... despite the downward spiral of the plot..._

* * *

PROLOGUE:

Scenes flashed before the girl's eyes. "However, it's pitiful... a demon who can't even die came alone. He still doesn't undestand his own loneliness." The words echoed in her head as Nanami was thrown into yet another flashback of what had occured between Tomoe and Yukiji. When the fox snatched his hand out and caught a piece of flesh, ripping it from his demon brother's shoulder, claiming it was a curse of some sort, Nanami almost screamed. The thought that struck like lightning through her mind was, FORESHADOW! But what good would her words, stuck in her throat, do now? What had happened had happened. Still, she watched the drama unfurl itself before her.

Akura-ou was not pleased that Tomoe had chosen a human girl over the freedom that his brother offered him... and blatantly stated something that made the brunette's eyes narrow. "If you're really becoming one, go ahead and see what happens. I'll kill you off right away!"

A million thoughts slid through the girl's brain, and she tried desperately to cling to them... she was so encased in these thoughts that she almost did not catch what Tomoe said to Akura-ou before the two parted. "Do not go to Izumo alone."

Izumo. So Akura-ou was planning on taking over the headquarters of the Gods? But that was also where Yomi-no-Kuni was... and wasn't it Kirihito who said that his body was in Yomi-no-Kuni? If Nanami had known just where the boy's body was, she would have been astounded. In a sea of flames... The birth of Yukiji's daughter brought a smile to Nanami's troubled features, and Tomoe's first interaction with her made her heart clench in so many different ways.

Before whatever happened next happened, she guessed as to what would play out. It was obvious that Akura-ou was jealous of the enchantment that Yukiji had out Tomoe under with her presence… and it was also very clear that he would not stand for Tomoe turning into a human. He had even gone so far as to announce that he would kill Tomoe… KILL. The word echoed in Nanami's head, sending splinters through her skull. No. No, that couldn't have happened.. Could it?

Was it possible that while Tomoe had been making a deal with the fallen god, Yukiji had been left unattended? The fur ball who had grown so large by eating the bodies of humans, and perhaps demons as well… had he brought Yukiji to the foot of Akura-ou while Tomoe was away? If so, the demon would have definitely thought the same thing that Nanami was thinking now. Send pain catapulting through Tomoe by killing that which he treasured most. Yukiji could have been killed by Akura-ou and the contract just made with the fallen god, would have taken effect. Such incredible power is rarely good. To turn someone human…

Tomoe, no doubt, would have run to cast revenge upon the being who had killed his precious Yukiji. Slowly dying, perhaps he had found Akura-ou at the borders of Izumo, separated his immortal soul from his demon body and cast him into Yomi-no-Kuni, lighting him on an ever burning fire before closing the entrance. Akura-ou would be forever in the darkness, just as Tomoe's heart was now, broken, and with no light to chase away the horror yet to come. Fur ball, would most likely join with Suke and form Yatori... promising Suke that he could live forever- and then Yatori would help Kirihito search for his body...power would be returned... and...

Disaster. That's what all this was. Disaster and chaos in its most raw form. Momozono Nanami. Land God of Mikage Shrine… or rather—temporary Land God. Mikage had returned, after all. Before her now was a fallen god by the name of Kuromaru who had made a contract with the demon fox Tomoe around five hundred years ago. Actually, just recently, thought Nanami, reminding herself that she was here in the past. She turned to face the man, reluctant to believe all that she had just seen.

"Why did you do it… Why?" She searched for the words that she wanted to say, but this was all that she could come up with.

Kuromaru's answer was simple and to the point, "I did it because he wanted me to."

It was now that Nanami had a change of heart. She did not want it to be this way. Tomoe had only days to live and here she was, playing around in the past and watching things go by as if she were at a cinema theater. Time passed differently in the present than it did in the past, and with this being her last chance to visit here, she was still trying to figure out just what Mikage had wanted her to do. How was she, a helpless girl, going to save Tomoe? Maybe there was no way. Maybe this was a dead end, just as Mikage had suggested it being.

"Then I too have a contract I wish to make with you." The fallen god raised a brow.

"Ho… you do, do you?"

"Yes. I want you to nullify the contract you have made with Tomoe." The fallen god shook his head.

"Dear, that contract has already been frozen by Mikage, the Land God of—," but before he could finish Nanami cut him off.

"I am the Land God of Mikage Shrine. And you WILL make a contract with me." Kuromaru stared long and hard for a moment, then rolled his shoulders back, sighing loudly.

"Alright, but you have seen what disaster may befall you." When Nanami did not reply, he shook his head and reached out, tugging at the ends of her hair. "Nullifying a contract will require something precious. When the fox demon wanted to be human, he gave me this." An ornamented hair pin was pulled from thin air and softly placed in Nanami's hands. "What will you give me, miss Land God, in return for nullifying a contract?"

"My memory." Kuromaru smiled a dark smile.

"You are a good customer, Momozono, but all of your memory would be disastrous for you. I will give you a good bargain, and save you from losing all of your memory. Say I take the time from the day you became a Land God up until now, and I call it my price? Throw in that mark on your forehead that keeps you tied to your familiars and to the shrine and you have a deal. You will not remember anything. Not of our meeting… Not of Tomoe, or anything else that you have held so dear."

Nanami's heart skipped. Not remembering… She wouldn't be able to remember Tomoe? Or Mizuki… Or anyone else. Her fingers tightened around the hairpin that had been given to her by Tomoe. Tomoe… would not know that his curse had been lifted. Mikage would probably sense something, but she, although wary, would trust the man not to say anything to him. Nanami looked up at the fallen god and smiled.

"We have a deal then, Miss Momozono Nanami, Land God of Mikage Shrine."

* * *

一

_"I do believe in an everyday sort of magic - the inexplicable connectedness we sometimes experience with places, people, works of art and the like; the eerie appropriateness of moments of synchronicity; the whispered voice, the hidden presence, when we think we're alone." _  
**_― Charles de Lint_**

The very first thing she identified as familiar was a sort of emptiness. A sinking feeling that settled inside her gut—it truly weighed her down. It was as if someone had shackled her ankles and dropped her with a boulder into the ocean. She was drowning… and it frightened her. What if she could not reach the surface and breathe ever again? What if she lost consciousness and passed away unknowingly? Yes, these were frightening thoughts… but this was not what scared her the most. It was whether or not she would ever know the reason as to WHY she was drowning in the first place that sent her heart into an anxious marathon. It pounded inside of her chest cavity. It pushed against her flesh, desperate, pleading for freedom. She did not like feeling empty.

Then her vision started to come back to her. Objects were fuzzy, movement was not processed, and it hurt to try and focus on anything and everything. But, she thought, optimistic, at least she was not drowning any longer. She was on land. She was surrounded by oxygen. And she could inhale and exhale freely. She need not fight for it now.

An eternity passed. It was now that scents invaded her cells. Recognizable ones... and more new ones. Something different? Someone, perhaps... Had Mizuki brought over a guest? Nanami's great chocolate eyes shut tight, then opened slowly. She could see clearly now... and she was starting to be able to hear too.

The first was a harsh voice, masculine and full of power. "... been seven days... perhaps she will never wake." The words fell on deaf ears. Though she had heard them, she could not put any emotion of her own behind them. Should she feel angry? What was it even like to be angry... did it... hurt? The next voice belonged to someone the teenage girl also did not know.

"SHH! Do not speak such things. I believe in Nanami." She didn't know... but they knew her? A face in a mask peered into her own palette and Nanami stared, nonchalant, as a child sized figure threw it's arms up and ran, stuttering and waving frantically out of her room.

"E-Ev-EVER-Every-EVERYONE!" Footsteps pounded into the wooden floors and suddenly the empty room was filled with beings. A boy that looked a little younger than her was pulled in by a wide-eyed girl with beautiful hair pulled back into a ponytail. She had very stylish clothes on... A tall man arrived, with an eyepatch and a long braid running down his spine. Pushing through them all was a white haired boy in shrine attire. He stumbled forward to greet Nanami.

"Nana-Nanami..." He threw his arms around her, embracing her tightly. "I knew you'd come back... I knew it..." Nanami Momozono let herself be squeezed and shaken by this strange boy, and then she snapped to a weary sort of attention.

"I'm sorry... but who are you?" She looked to the people inside the doorframe again and stared. "All of you..?" The boy hugging her stopped moving back and forth. His grip tightened to the point that it almost hurt to breathe. Then he let go and slid backwards, staring at her intently.

"You don't- know..?" The girl in the doorframe put her hand to her mouth and her beautiful eyes became watery.

"...I'm sorry... but I don't know any of you... could someone... could someone tell me just where I am?"

"You are at Mikage Shrine, miss Nanami. You have been out cold for seven full days." Her eyes bulged when these words had finished flowing from a new face's mouth. This one had short hair and a soft, knowledgable expression on his face. In his hand was a small sake bottle.

Her reply to all this was rushed and quick, and she stumbled over every syllable. "Excuse me for intruding upon your home!"

The white haired boy spoke again, looking as if his foot had been stepped on. "But..."

"Mizuki, she has obviously made a contract. Do not expect anything of her." These words were the first ones to send emotion spinning through her veins. In fact, she felt as if someone had put pins in her blood, and now they were stabbing every vital organ there was in her bodice. "Onikiri... Kotetsu."

"Yes?" Two voices spoke up from behind the crowd that had grown even more. There were those two children with the masks, and a boy with maroon hair... Nanami couldn't put a name to the face, but he was the only one she knew she had seen before... somewhere.

"Inform Tomoe that Nanami is awake but tell him also that..." He leaned closer to them and whispered something that the girl could not hear, and the two nodded and took off down the halls again. "Everyone, please return to the eating room… I will speak with Nanami for a while. When she is feeling herself—we will join you."

Everyone slowly ducked out… with the white haired boy leaving last, still looking over his shoulder when the door shut. The sake jug was placed beside her and the wise looking man settled himself next to her on the tatami mats.

"I have always enjoyed drinking sake under the full moon. I find that it cleanses and purifies the heart and soul. Would you please have one sip so that I may feel that I am not keeping such pleasure to myself?" Nanami nodded, and with the nameless man's help, she sat up, pressed dry lips to the mouth of the mug, and let the alcohol slip tentatively down her throat. When he pulled it back, she swallowed and bit her lower lip, trying to remove the dry skin from it. It was useless.

"Now… Nanami. What has happened?" How did he mean that? She looked over to him and tried to pinpoint just what had happened before she woke up. But it pained her to try and recall such things. She could feel a stab in her skull pulsate and she shook her head.

"My father left… and my home was taken from me." The man's soft smile faltered and Nanami caught onto it. "Is…is there something wrong?"

"Well—it would seem that you have… your memories have been exchanged for something very dear to you."

"What do you mean?" She shook her head and tightened her grip on the blankets. "Sir I don't even know your—."

"Ah, how rude of me. I forgot to reintroduce myself to you. I am Mikage… I used to be the owner of this humble shrine."

"Reintroduce?"

"Yes, although you do not remember, we have met twice before… perhaps thrice, but I am growing old and cannot remember just how many times I have exchanged words with you…" He tapped on his head with his knuckles and chuckled gently. "In any case… it has been a year since your father left you to yourself." Well THAT was news to her. What had she been doing all this time? She couldn't remember… And it slowly killed her inside to acknowledge this.

"That… That's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, Nanami. You, of all people, should know this best." His words still eluded her, but she nodded slowly. Perhaps he was right. Though she was more of the modest sort when it came to compliments, Nanami felt somewhat proud. She had the feeling that she had done something worthwhile. Something that had changed someone else's life in some inexplicable way.

"I…"

"Tell me, what have you got in your pocket, dear Nanami?" She opened her mouth to reply and say that she had nothing in her pockets, as she could not recall ever putting anything into them, but then again… she couldn't even remember the past year—perhaps it was a good idea to check. Her hand slipped to the fabric and she looked down at it in awe as she pulled out a small, beautiful hair ornament.

"What is this?" The man called Mikage narrowed his eyes and set down the bottle of sake. It was a movement that held her attention for another minute or so. For some reason, she found it important. Something that represented unease or the arrival of an epiphany. Yes, she would put money, if she had any, behind the latter.

"That is proof. Proof that you have done something extraordinary."


	2. 二

二

_"I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realizes an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past." _  
**- Virginia Woolf**

* * *

_"That is proof. Proof that you have done something extraordinary." _

Although Mikage had said such a thing, Nanami could not put her finger on just what she had done. Every time she tried to remember or decide just what it was, pain seared through her brain. For days she was left alone… food and refreshments were brought to her, her door was opened to the beautiful view outside and she could sometimes see an unknown person, one who had not been at her little "homecoming" of sorts, despite the fact that she did not consider the place as "home." He was pale… and his hair was a shade of silver that reminded the girl of starlight. When he was outside, he would weed the yard so fluidly… as if he were performing some kind of dance… and he would trim the cherry blossom tree with a gentleness that reminded her of a calligraphy brush on thin paper. It was art. For some reason, she was entranced by each and every move he made. Sometimes he would turn back and sneak a look over in her direction… and Nanami would quickly snap her head away, going back to eating, drinking, or staring listlessly at her covers.

Who was he? And why did he give her such an intense stare? Every time he turned his attention o her, she felt as if he was going to burn a hole right through her clothes. Fire encased her metaphorically, sending pink to her cheekbones, and painting her knuckles white. Four days this happened. And every time, Nanami would turn her face away, ashamed that she had been staring. But for some reason, despite everything she tried, she could not get up and walk around. She wanted very badly to repay her stay here and help around a bit just to show that she wasn't freeloading on any of them. Sometimes she was visited by Mizuki, the white haired boy, who apparently was the one who brewed the sake that Mikage had been drinking the other night. He talked on and on about plum trees, a shrine under a lake, and a goddess named Yonomori. He also talked about their meeting… but Nanami couldn't help but retreat into herself at this. She did not trust this boy… and although she was more of the optimistic kind, she couldn't help but cringe at the idea that he knew more about her than she knew herself.

Mizuki also explained to her about youkai and shrines, including Mikage Shrine, worked. He even revealed that he was a snake familiar and that Tomoe was a wild fox who had been taken in by Mikage many many hundreds of years ago. This also caused the girl to want to get away from the boy as soon as possible. Although there was a hint of trustworthiness and earnest in his voice, she could not so easily believe that such things were actually true…

On the fifth day, Nanami was struck with a chord of recognition while watching the nameless silver-haired male changing the water to the trough in front of the shrine for purification. He knelt down and dumped the water out, and a sort of flashback streaked across her vision. A kind face… with amber eyes, smiling and offering a bowl of icecream. Gentle, yet firm hands, grasping her own small toddler ones, and a question that sent her heart beating on a frenzy. And when he looked over at her, she did not look away. He set the bucket that he had filled with fresh water down and dried his hands on his pants before walking to her doorframe. The two were only separated by a thin screen and a few tatami mats. He put his hand on the doorframe and leaned against it. Minutes of silence passed easily, though the quiet atmosphere was not as awkward as one might think it to be. In fact… in was relaxing.

Sooner or later, however, one must wake from their dreams. The dark brunette girl averted her gaze to the floor and muttered a stuttering word. "S-Sorry."

"For what?" He replied back without hesitation, never missing a beat.

"..staring." A smirk crossed his features and she struggled as she tried not to scream out in anger and embarrassment. Why had she admitted that so easily? Perhaps he would laugh at her! Oh Amaterasu…

An exhalation of air made her heart sink, and she prepared herself to become the laughing stock of the day. But the words were quite different than that of which she had originally expected. "I am not bothered by such things." She looked up, a little too surprised to be considered normal, and he smiled back at her, sweaty from the work, hidden somewhat behind the bug screen that kept the blood sucking mosquitoes away from the frail girl's pale body. He wiped the back of his hand over his forehead and nodded in her direction before turning around and returning to the bucket of water that he had left behind a few minutes before.

However, Nanami called out to him before she even knew what she was doing herself. "Wait—." He reacted instantly, freezing. His fox ears twisted backwards, and it appeared that he was holding his breath. Was he waiting because of her words… or just because of her voice? The thought was silly… why would he even follow her request in the first place? "Won't you… won't you tell me your name?"

She thought his shoulders hunched a little. Disappointment? What had he been expecting her to say? She bit her lip and brushed a small piece of hair behind her ear, tucking the lock away so that it would not fall in front of her face. She needed to get it cut…

"Tomoe." He did not turn around as he answered this, and then he continued on, grabbing the bucket and moving out of sight. He was not gone for long though. For his voice filtered through the screen again in just a few moments time. "But Nanami… you may call me whatever you see fit." Nanami turned her head so quick that her finger caught that piece of hair, and it came tumbling back forward, giving her a sort of disheveled look. Her brown eyes were wide and behind her the door slid open loudly.

"Stupid fox, always so vigilant and persistent when it comes to guarding at night…" The unfamiliar voice made the girl turn around quickly. Unease nearly suffocated her in its midst and she ended up staring at two of the most strange looking beings she had ever seen in her whole entire life. They looked as if they had cat masks on, covering the features of their faces. Headbands were tied around the masks, probably keeping the objects plastered to their heads.

"Who are you?" She asked tentatively, not sure whether or not she should be frightened or amused by the freakish way that they were dressed.

"We are the shikigami of Kirihito, foolish girl. Can't you remember?"

"Yes, can't you remember?" Nanami stared for seconds on end and then shook her head, defeated.

"I… I can't remember anything from the past year apparently… Was—Is Kirihito my friend?" The two cat masked creatures looked at one another, nodded and then turned back to the clueless girl.

They spoke the same two words at the same time. "Why yes!"

Nanami smiled at the duo and let a little bit of relief touch her face. "How wonderful... I managed to make friends despite my situation…"

"And your friend Kirihito has a favor to ask of you!"

"Yes, yes, a favor." Nanami nodded and looked in their direction again.

"What kind of favor?"

"He wants you to retrieve… what does he want you to retrieve?"

"A friend, dumbass. He wants her to retrieve a friend."

"Yes, a friend from Yomi no Kuni."

"It's a spirit world of sorts!"

"That only a God can enter." Nanami had been listening the whole time, of course, as the two spit out dialogue towards her, finishing each other's sentences for one another. But when this last sentence came, her hair covered her face, and the smile was but a distant memory.

"I'm sorry… Mikage is the Land God of Mikage Shrine now. I have apparently given whatever godhood I had had and my memories for… something very precious to me." The two shikigami looked at one another, and then settled next to Nanami, one stroking her hair and the other rubbing her back in comfort.

"It is alright miss… Kirihito would not ask you to do the impossible."

"Yes, it is quite alright."

"You see, if you have anything belonging to this Mooshi god—."

Nanami corrected him right off the bat. "Mikage?"

"Yes, Mikage man god thing, such as a bracelet or robe, you should be fine in Yomi no Kuni."

"No one will suspect a thing of you."

"You will be safe from danger and from everything else."

"Not that you should be afraid anyway."

"Of course."

Nanami shrugged. "What am I looking for if I go?"

"A friend's body."

"A body?!" She screeched, energy wasted on such a simple movement.

"Not a dead one!"

"No, no, how dreadful. We are not looking for a dead body."

"You are going to get Akura-ou's body out of a forest."

"And when you have grabbed it, you will break this." The left shikigami held out a beautiful ebony conch shell. He offered it towards her… and she took it carefully, overly aware of just how fragile it must be if she had to break it.

"Will you… will you come get me when I am done?"

"Well DUH."

"Kirihito will come and meet you."

"And the glorious moment of reunion will be nothing short of…. Short of…"

"Glorious."

"And he will give you back your memory that you are missing."

"How dare you not remember us."

"It's a disaster…"

"He will surely give it back to you."

"Surely."

Sure, hesitation did cross the girl's mind many many times during this whole exchange of dialogue, but if Kirihito had been a friend of hers, he was bound to have done something for her before right? Even just being her friend deserved a sort of repayment. Perhaps this was the least she could do for him. "Alright, I'll do it."

"There you are miss Land God!"

"Meet us in two day's time with an article from Mikage and the conch!"

"We will be waiting at your school entrance."

"From there we will be your guides to Yomi no Kuni."

Before she could say anything at all, the duo had vanished into thin air, leaving Nanami alone once more. She turned her undivided attention to the small conch shell, turning it over and examining just what it looked like before she put it under her pillow, inside the case. As if on cue, Onikiri and Kotetsu entered with a hot meal for her to consume.

"Hello Nanami!" They said in sync with each other.

"Hello."

"Tomoe-dono has made lunch for you… would you like to eat it now?" The one that had spoken… was that Onikiri?

"If you don't, it will grow cold…" No, that one was Onikiri. Ugh, Nanami couldn't put names to faces… especially masked ones.

"SHHH. Kotetsu, it is quite alright if she does not eat it now." Ah. So THIS one was Onikiri and the one HOLDING the tray was Kotetsu. Nanami did her best to make a mental note to remember the mask decorations…

"I'm actually… not very hungry right now. She turned to look outside and then looked back at the two of the shrine spirits. The only reason she could see them right now was because of the anklet Mikage had given her… apparently it had been weaved from a strand of his hair. Now that she thought about it, it would probably be possible to use that instead of a kimono or yukata from Mikage's wardrobe to go into Yomi no Kuni… "But… could you take me outside? I would very much like the fresh air."

The two looked at her for a long while, and then nodded, putting down the tray, helping her up and guiding her towards the door. She trusted that they would not allow her to fall, for they had been the ones to help her with her baths for the past few days… and they had not failed her yet. Onikiri slid open the screen while Kotetsu guided her out. When Onikiri had shut it back and rejoined them, they helped her to sit down on the wooden area outside the Shrine and they ran back inside, probably to put away the wasted food that she had not been hungry for. Besides, it was hot outside and hardly the weather for equally hot, boiling soup.

At least an hour passed before someone even spoke to her. Three passed before Tomoe came back around the house, carrying some kind of chopped wood. He looked over at her and she released a tentative smile into the atmosphere, just to be friendly. He smiled back at her and kept moving towards the shed that he had deposited the yard tools into earlier. When he came back out, the wood had also been dropped off… perhaps that shed was bigger on the inside than it appeared to be. Then, he came walking straight towards her. She stiffened as he came nearer and nearer.

"Are you hungry at all?" Nanami's stomach answered for her quite loudly and she felt all hope of her having a serious conversation with this person disappear into the depths of Hell. Funny, she would be going there in just a few days… "What for?" He hadn't even waited for her to answer the first question aloud… to verify that she was not making monster sounds at him to go away…

Her answer was quiet and soft, introverted and a bit timid sounding. As if she wasn't really sure that she wanted it in the first place. "Ice cream, please." A smile flickered onto his features and he knelt down so that his head was level with hers.

"Of course, Nanami." And just like that, in his hand appeared a bowl of ice cream. It had a smiley face on it and a spoon sticking out of it. She stared at it as he pushed it towards her, offering the cold substance that would surely be ruined in the hot summer sun.

"Just who…are you?" She whispered, closing her eyes to try and keep herself from crying. "I feel as if I should know you but I can't remember. It hurts to try and remember. Were you a friend too? Or were you something else?" She put her hands to her face and bent over, supporting her upper weight with her elbows on her knees. Beside her, the ice cream was set down with an audible tap. "I say I want ice cream, and you give me something right from my childhood." She could feel his presence getting even closer than it was before to her. But she did not look up, she kept on rambling, talking and venting. "Have we known each other for so long? Or is this some sort of joke? I want to know but for some reason, I—."

She was silenced quite suddenly. Her hands were pried away from her face, and her lips were captured by those of Tomoe, the silver-haired fox. She tried to pull away, but he followed her. She could not escape. It was fleeting, actually. And when it was finished, she was pulled into his embrace, her head tucked in the crook of his neck, with her hair softly caressed by his slender fingers.

"We have met before." He cooed as she welcomed his hug and wrapped her arms around his neck, sniffling like some kind of helpless child. Too much energy had been spent on her little breakdown, and her body ached. "But that's not important anymore. You don't have to remember, because we can create new memories. Ones that do not hurt to try and recall. You saved my life, and because of that, I am forever indebted to you. A life for a life."

Nanami vaguely remembered being carried back into her room and placed on the bed that she had been allowed to have for the remainder of her stay. She was tucked in and left alone.

When she awoke again, she turned to look outside her screen… and just as the shikigami of Kirihito had said… there was Tomoe, vigilant as if guarding some kind of priceless treasure. And there she slipped again into darkness.


	3. 三

三

_"Real magic can never be made by offering someone else's liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back." _  
_― __**Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn**_

* * *

The next day was quite uneventful. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. She was relieved from Tomoe's presence outside, as it had been replaced with Mizuki's, and he would come and complain to Onikiri and Kotetsu and make them do some work while he would goof off and do absolutely nothing. He even tried to get Mikage to do some work, but the blonde Land God would not have it. He told the snake off with a smile and went to brush Nanami's hair after the shrine spirits had helped her with her bath. He dragged the brush through her long hair and he talked to her about how beautiful it was. That he had only seen such hair once before, and that was a very long time ago, even before Nanami had lost her memory.

"Why can't you tell me just what I'm not remembering?" She finally asked after minutes of having her wet hair brushed to silky smoothness on her back. He answered back right away, as if he had been expecting the question all along.

"Because then I would ruin everything. If anything triggered your memories, it would probably renew the contract that Tomoe had been under. Yours would nullify and his would come right back. You two are Yin and Yang. One cannot survive without the other." Nanami did not speak again to the God. Not that day… and not the next when she snuck out in the early morning. She did not want to have things expected of her. She felt that she would let whoever expected it of her… down. And she did not want to disappoint anyone.

She was dressed and taken out for a stroll around the Shrine by Himemiko, the cute girl that had been present when she had been announced as awake after seven days of sleeping. Himemiko spoke of being a catfish… how Nanami had helped her find true love with the human boy she was with and she also told the girl that she would do anything if she only asked it of her. If she wanted anything in the world at all, Himemiko would surely get it for her. It made Nanami want to cry knowing that she had made such friends that would even think of giving her the most expensive treasures. Even adorned in the lovely attire that she had been dressed in… Nanami felt as if she had been made into some sort of princess. Perhaps karma really did exist.

Nanami was left alone underneath the cherry tree in the courtyard area when Himemiko announced that she was required back at her palace or something. She had felt terrible about having to leave Nanami, but the girl ushered her along, assuring her that all was fine and that there was no ill will felt against her. She sat down and then Himemiko was gone. Just like that. What was with that with these beings that she kept meeting? She could swear that they were there one moment, and then they were nothing but thin air the next. Perhaps she was seeing things. Perhaps everything that was happening was something that she had made up so that she didn't go absolutely insane. She toppled backwards, arms spread out and head against the grass as she stared up at the cherry blossom tree. It had already bloomed and had hardly any blossoms on it… just emerald leaves. She closed her eyes and inhaled.

"Enjoying the scenery?" That voice. How could she not recognize it from yesterday? Her eyelids fluttered open and she widened her gaze when she found Tomoe sitting beside her, staring right down at her. Right above her.

She moved her arms so that she was covering her face. "Don't look at me like that… I probably look horrible right now." There was a moment of silence, and Nanami thought for a moment that she had imagined him there. What a stupid girl… perhaps she had. But gentle, yet firm, hands pulled her arms away from her face and he stared down at her with amber eyes, the same ones that she could recall from her childhood. What had been the question that he had asked her? If it had even been him…

"Foolish girl. You do not look horrible." She didn't know how to reply to that. How could one come up with a response to that? So she just kept quiet and said nothing at all.

"No. But you do." That was Mizuki's voice. Tomoe looked up and glared, letting go of Nanami's arms gently so that they did not fall and smack her in the face. He helped her sit up and he continued glaring at the white haired boy.

"What do you want, snake?"

The answer was simple, as if it were plainly obvious just what the conditions were. "You to get your hands off of my master." Tomoe paused a moment and then slowly retreated, taking his hands off of Nanami. She turned her head and looked back at him, a little confused. But she was lifted into the sky by Mizuki and she was left staring over his shoulder at Tomoe, who remained on the grass, glaring at the ground. When he looked over at Mizuki carrying away the brunette, he smiled a little for her and then pointed to the cherry tree. She watched with childlike eyes as he tapped a branch and a blossom grew just for her to see. She smiled a little and then closed her eyes as Mizuki approached the entrance to her room so that she may go back to resting.

It was Mikage who undressed her and put her back into a robe. He said nothing as she stood before him, bare and exposed. But she had no strength to turn away as he recovered her with clothes. She uttered a small thank you and obediently put her head against the pillow as he walked out of the room. She didn't even say goodbye to him. He probably would not have let her leave if she had anyway…

It was two in the morning when Tomoe moved away from the screen door and made his way into the Shrine for something. Perhaps something to eat? Or a sound… Nanami waited a few minutes, which she probably shouldn't have done, and then she was off, struggling to her feet after grabbing the small conch shell and the hairpin that had been in her pocket when she woke up. She placed both of them in the same pocket and put her hair up with a band around her wrist. She stepped outside and looked both ways before dashing forward, shutting the door softly before doing so. And when she reached the foliage and turned around to see if anyone had seen her, she could see Tomoe walking back outside with a piece of meat in his mouth. An ache in her chest, as well as a piercing pain in her skull, forced her to turn around and keep moving forward. About halfway down the stairs to the Shrine, she heard something behind her and she turned around, ready to scream should anything jump out at her. But it ended up being a small monkey. It looked up at her with wide, curious eyes and she let out a sigh of relief before shooing it off and continuing.

Just as they had promised, the two shikigami met Nanami at her school, and from there, they took her to the subway, where they walked down the side of the tracks, scaring Nanami half to death. Three times she faltered and fell, and three times she got right back up, reminding herself that she was doing this so as not to give pain to everyone back at Mikage Shrine… She wanted to remember who and what she had been for the past year. She wanted to know just what she had done… who she had become friends with—and who she had become not so good friends with.

Three fourths of the way to their destination, Nanami decided to look back past her shoulders. On the track, following them, was that same little monkey that she had seen walking down the steps. She felt anxiety rise in her throat. What if it was some kind of tracker? What if she was being followed? She frowned and walked faster, causing the shikigami to struggle keeping up with her. Minutes later, they all stopped inside of the tunnel, in front of a mirror in the middle of nowhere and at their request, Nanami stepped on it.

"Alright, remember. When you have found Kirihito's body inside the flames—."

"Break the conch shell and Kirihito will come to you."

"We are sending you on the outskirts of the forest full of fire that this body is in."

"So please do not die before you reach your destination!" They both put their hands on her shoulders and pushed her down INSIDE of the mirror.

"GOOD LUCK MISS NOT LAND GOD!"

When she opened her eyes again, she felt sick. The air was sickening. She leaned to her side and vomited the contents of her stomach, completely disgusted with herself and with the place around her. It smelled of rotting flesh, if she had ever smelled rotting flesh, she would have been able to put this description right to the stench. She stood up as soon as she could and moved away from the area where she had regurgitated her past day's worth of food. She stumbled towards a small rock quarry and leaned on one of the larger rocks, pushing herself to stay standing.

Beneath her hand, there was an indentation in the rock. She looked down and read the characters that had been etched inside the stone. " 、 見 よ 、 。 そ し て 、 「 死 」 と 言 い 、 そ れ に **黄 泉 ** た. Then, she pronounced it aloud and read just what its meaning was. "_And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him." _Well, that settled it. She was definitely inside of Yomi no Kuni.

It was only now that she looked around, trying to pinpoint any sign of movement… for even in the darkest of places, there can be life. But nothing stirred. No shadows changed direction and the heat was almost unbearable for her to want to search any longer. She turned to the source of most of the heat, which was coming off of the forested area. A blue sort of flame engulfed it. Blue flames were the hottest, right? Nanami couldn't remember. Whatever it was, it was obvious that she was not getting inside of that forest anytime soon.

But… wasn't that where the body Kirihito wanted was in? Nanami swallowed hard, looking into the ever burning forest. There was no way she could do that without help. Speaking of help, where in the world were the shikigami that she had been with for the longest while? They were nowhere in sight… A light bulb suddenly went on over her head. HAD THEY MADE HER GO ALONE?! The girl started moving around the mass of flames, thinking that perhaps she could find an opening where the flames were nonexistent… but her third time around the territory was a surefire sign that there was no such place. She came back to those rocks that she had read the statement on and sat herself down, putting her head on her knees. She was tired… she hadn't slept at all because she wanted to make sure that she didn't end up sleeping through her opening in time when she would be able to get to the meeting place that she and the shikigami had agreed on.

She bit her lip just thinking about it. Would they be mad at her? Perhaps they would even come looking for her… The strange metallic taste of blood erupted inside of her mouth. She had broken the soft flesh of her lip, and now the life source of all living things was running through her mouth. Just then, movement in the bushes behind her and to her left sounded a sort of alarm for the girl and she twisted around, eyes wide, completely vulnerable.

* * *

**_Note_**_: Hello everyone! How are you? Have you read chapter 99? Looks like my intelligent fortune-telling skills were a bit of an anxiety attack after all... I was a little reluctant to keep Synchronicity going but hey, why not? Plumes is losing its touch... perhaps I'll just add a chapter and tell everyone what happens ^^;; I'm lazy! Today I'm going on a date with my boyfriend! We are going to an arcade... but I'm not good at games! I haven't seen him in two weeks... It makes my heart jump just to think about it... ALSO! Recently I read another manga! It's called Shinobi Life. It's really cute! If you like: InuYasha, the Girl Who Leaped Through Time AND, coincidentally, Kamisama Hajimemashita, I'm sure that you will like Shinobi Life, if not just a little bit! :) Don't worry, it's a completed series! It's good to keep busy while anxiously awaiting the release of chapter 100. Also, a bit of random icecream for your brain. My Chemical Romance has become my new addiction. _

_But I have so many emotions right now mostly because I finished Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I'll be reading the manga soon too, I promise! Maybe a bit of fanfiction for that? :3 I can see it! Hope you have a good day! Wish me luck on my date... I get a bit anxious about these things... :( Chapter four hasn't been started but I know where it's going and thanks to my cousin helping me out, I've got a nice plot outline for it (whereas Plumes was merely on a whim and I totally BS'ed it the whole way through.) xD Bye-bye!_


	4. 四

_**Note**__: Hello everyone! I have two different ways that I could end this fanfiction, and personally, it's either going to be a semi-tragedy or a happy ending. My friend turned to me the other day and told me that she wished the bad guy would win sometimes. I like my more developed idea, but I won't tell you which one it is! It's a secret! What would you like? For it to be a semi-tragedy or for it to be a happy ending? You can private message me and tell me your thoughts! Hope you enjoy this chapter of Synchronicity. DID YOU KNOW, the number four in Japanese is regarded as unlucky in Japanese because it's sound is similar to that of the pronounciation of "death."_

* * *

四

_"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."  
― _**_Ralph Waldo Emerson_**

* * *

Nanami turned, brown doe eyes wide with alarm, unsure of just what kind of demons or any other sorts of things would be lurking here. She could imagine things… put her fears into a shape, and they could turn up. So, Nanami bit her lip and tried desperately to keep her mind as blank as she possibly could. Maybe it was nothing! It very well could have been her imagination playing horrible tricks on her after all. But that was not the case here. Out of the bushes came a man so weak and frail looking that Nanami was sure he was going to fall over and gasp for his last breath at that very moment. His skin was like leather, probably soft to the touch and yet dry looking. His hair reached down to his ankles. It too was not in the very best of shapes.

"…circle round the stones of life they said. Circle, circle, circle… you will find—." He stopped talking as soon as he turned his clouded (and most likely sightless eyes) to face Nanami. She felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle. "Find what you have been regretting." The man pushed back his hair away from his face with slender and long nailed fingers. His cheeks were hollow and his eyes were large from no nutrition. He could be literally a walking skeleton.

"Um… e-excuse me?" Nanami's voice cracked as she spoke, ending in a high pitched squeak that resulted in scaring her even more than she already was.

"That VOICE!" The man hissed, blinking in vain as he tried to get a better look at her. He stumbled two steps closer, and that was two steps closer than the girl would have liked for him to be. She stood up and moved backwards quickly. As does all girls, her foot caught on a small stone imbedded into the soil and it sent her flying, tossing her to the very ground that she had been walking on for so long.

"U-!"

"For sure that voice must be—let me have a good look at you mortal." He was suddenly by her side, grabbing her arm tightly, pulling her up and staring at her as if she were some sort of zoo animal. "Look clever!" Nanami almost screamed when he slid a hand under her chin and squeezed so that he could twist her head to the side. But the grip was not strong nor hurtful. It was soft and caressing. Like that of a parent… "I'll be damned…" The man laughed heartily, a movement that should have been too strong for him to even think of doing. His grip loosened and he let go of her arm and instead held her left hand in both of his. "I do know you… that foolish fortune teller was correct—I know you, I know you! Your name is-."

* * *

"Nanami!"

Voices echoed around the shrine atop the mountain. They polluted the atmosphere as smog most often does, poisoning each dark crook and cranny, chasing out even the deaf cockroaches that had settled themselves as deep down underneath the wooden structure as they possibly could.

Mizuki's voice… "Nanami-samaaaa!" As well as Onikiri and Kotetsu's... and soon, they were joined by a certain frantic fox, who was throwing things around and checking in places that had only been used many many hundreds of years ago.

"FUCK!" Tomoe screeched as he threw a door open and moved his arm so that he could feel inside, touch whatever might be there. But his vicious attempts to find that which he had lost were in vain. The only calm one in this mess was a man who had left the shrine long ago, refusing to return until part of his family was going to be passing into the afterlife. Mikage, as it was, stayed nonchalant, standing beside the torii gate at the entrance of his shrine, leaning against it and staring out into the distance.

Fireflies were starting to come out now… and they danced along the edges of the pathway leading down to the bust stop as time passed on. Lanterns were lit and soon the two familiars moved out into the dark forest, following a thin scent and a drying footprint. But footprints often lead to places where they can no longer be tracked, and perfumes disperse into the ever changing wind. Mikage sighed softly and then cupped his hands to his mouth, exhaled into them, and unfolded his fingers to reveal a single translucent winged butterfly, its appendages lined with charcoal. He smiled at it as he lowered his hands to his side and, after lingering for a single moment, it fluttered off, leaving a trail of what appeared to be moondust behind.

"Tomoe." He said, not raising his voice as he said the boy's name, and then he turned, pointing in the direction of the butterfly and facing the silver fox, whose hair had become quite long, at the same time. "You will find her." Tomoe, halfway across the yard, stared at the man, then the butterfly, and a dark look invaded his amber portals. He thrust the lantern into Mikage's hands, and took off his shoes, sprinting after the insect and down the staircase.

* * *

"Kirihito-sama~~" The strange male crooned, his eyes swirling with too many emotions to decipher just what he was thinking. The human boy in the same room as he was looking sicker than a dog about to fall to its grave.

"Shut up, Yatori. You're annoying." The thing—Yatori, smirked, not even thrown off by his 'master's' use of hateful words.

"Will you not let me accompany you to Yomi no Kuni when that girl breaks the conch?"

"IF that stupid girl breaks the conch, you will stay here." The black haired boy looked over at the strange demon and scrunched up his nose. "Yatori… you smell."

The demon hesitated for a moment, then let a wide smirk cross his features, a cheshire grin far too wide to be considered harmless. "Yes, Kirihito-sama~. I know." He sat back and looked into the second mirror that was partnered with the same one that Nanami had jumped into, or rather, had been pushed into by the shikigami. Getting these mirrors had been a pain in the ass… but Yatori did not mind. His goal was just in his reach… and he could almost TASTE it.

* * *

"But why are you in Yomi no Kuni, dear girl?"

This was by far one of the strangest days of Nanami's life. Being thrust into Yomi no Kuni was one thing, and mind you, this was the ACTUAL Yomi no Kuni. As in the land of the dead, Hell, the afterlife, whatever one wants to think of it as. It is the place that one goes as soon as their lifespan is over.

"I'm looking for someone named Akura-ou. Apparently his body is in a forest…" The man, who seemed to have known Nanami during her time that her memory had been taken from her, was sitting beside her, listening to her as a child listens to an adult about something that they are truly interested in. But as soon as she mentioned the name Akura-ou, he held his breath.

"I see… might I say that your red thread is much more tangled than those others of your species, Nanami." The brunette closed her eyes and nodded. She knew that. Apparently she had been facing more and more obstacles and that was all because of whatever had happened to her before now. "But, I have been waiting for you for at least 500 years, and now that you're here, I can't very well leave you in agony. That object in your pocket proves that you are indeed Nanami."

As if on cue, the girl pulled out one of the precious objects in her pocket and revealed it to be the hairpin that she had had when she woke up in Mikage Shrine.

"Oh yes, I remember that one quite well. It was my last contract… With you actually!" Nanami looked up, surprised. "What—oh dear girl, you don't remember. I am Kuromaru, the one who lifted Tomoe's curse because of your sacrifice!" Kuromaru, as his name was, reached inside of his sleeve and pulled out a small amount of rice, wrapped in bamboo leaves. He offered it to the girl and she took it graciously… as she was starving. As she sunk her teeth into it, he began speaking again. "You see, I can give you back your memories now." Nanami swallowed hard and stared at the man.

"Seriously?!"

"Of course!" He laughed as he wiped a grain of rice off of her face. "But not right now. I will see in the near future, as was foretold by that crazy witch… however, my time with you is done. Remember, we will see each other again, this parting is only temporary." He smiled and stood up. "There is someone else who you have to meet first before you can find Akura-ou's body. Good luck Nanami!"

And then he was gone. As if he had never even been there in the first place. Nanami bit her lip and watched as the sun dipped below the horizon. She brought the gift from Kuromaru to her mouth and devoured it in tiny bites… determined to make it last as long as she possibly could. The night was cold and full of strange noises… but Nanami survived it. And the next night. And the night after that.

It was on the third day that Kuromaru's words finally held meaning for the previous Land God of Mikage Shrine, Momozono Nanami.

* * *

_**Note:**__ Next chapter is 五__! We will learn something about Mikage that we have always been denied! Please remember that this is a fanfiction based on my view of how the manga will turn out… any resemblance to the actual upcoming manga chapters is PURELY coincidence as I am nowhere near Suzuki Julietta and I have never ever seen her storyboards or her plot outlines. Thanks for reading! _


	5. 五

_**Note:**__ If you are confused at any point in time during this chapter, please reread chapter 83, or somewhere around there. The event with the villagers… this was a hard part to write as I don't know the full details behind it—in any case, please enjoy! I will continue working hard to wrap this up before school starts again so I don't remove it! I like this story quite a lot;; Also, I have a DA account now! _

_Please WATCH && FRIEND me here! Your support is very much appreciated!_

* * *

五

_"People have forgotten this truth," the fox said. "But you mustn't forget it. You become responsible forever for what you've tamed." _  
**_― Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince_**

* * *

The silver fox yokai, Tomoe, pushed through the undergrowth that the butterfly had led him through. He had cuts on his cheeks and above his brow. His hands were covered in thin lines of blood. Pushing through holly had been more of a trouble than he had originally bargained for. But Nanami was gone… and he had let her slip away during _his_ own watch! His eyes narrowed, the pupils wide so that they could collect in as much light as possible. That butterfly was never in his reach. He could not catch it and tie it to a string if he so wanted to. It kept getting out of his sight, and only at times would he find the afterglow that its luminous wings left. A rare sighting of it would lead him in a different direction at the most strange times. But he would not give up. He would not lost that girl again. FIVE centuries he had been waiting for her. The demon ducked under a bridge and paused to catch his breath. For five hundred years she had kept him waiting. Her promise to be with him had gone unfulfilled, and even now, the memories of those days were still coming back. How he had been such a fool back then… to not be able to determine the difference between the two women. It was obvious now the reason as to why. Mikage had told him so. Nanami was the descendant of the woman who had given birth to the little girl whose namesake was the same bush that was now cutting the demon to pieces.

But Tomoe could not linger on that at the moment. To his right, he saw a flicker of light and he dashed after it without a moment's hesitation. To find Nanami. That's all he wanted before, wasn't it? And now, he was going to do it. He was going to find her and keep her safe and sound forever. Until the day she left him… and then he would be right behind her. He would find a way to find her. As only demons and gods go to Yomi no Kuni… he would find some way to get to Nanami. Even if she went through the wheel of reincarnation… he would follow her. He would search for her. He would always search for her in order for them to be together as they could have been oh so many times before.

* * *

Inside his room at Mikage Shrine, Mikage himself settled himself down on the tatami mats and set down a heavy object that he had been holding in his hands throughout the halls. You, as the reader, would recognize it as Mizuki's incense time turner. With a sweep of his hand, the burner lit and the doors were barred shut with spells that would most certainly block any intruders from getting into the room despite any sort of attack. He closed his eyes and let the scent move his body to a different time and place.

"What was that?" A boy cried, letting go of the net that he had been holding. "Papa, I saw something in the river!"

"A fish most likely… You foolish boy, you let the net slip away." The man beside the boy swiped a fist over his head to pop him in the skull just enough to make the boy cry out at the dull pain. But before he could wade out into the river to retrieve the net that he had lost, both men fell into a sort of trance, stupefied by some sort of thought that, unknown to them, passed through all the men in the village that they belonged to. The women, alarmed and full of fear (for these were troubling times after all), screamed and shrieked their emotions to the silent atmosphere. Names of husbands and fathers and sons were called. Family friends, partners, even brothers… all the men stopped, as if some sort of ice storm had come through and frozen only those with testosterone in their system.

Mikage, on the other side of the river, opened a cage made of light, and sent out hundreds of small white butterflies. Like a moth to a flame, they landed on every man's forehead, touching them briefly and then disappearing into thin air. When all was done, Mikage shut the cage, moved back into the undergrowth and listened.

This plan would work, for it had already done so in his present time. Every villager would know of the voice of a God who came to them in a dream… every village man was left with the same message. "In order for humans to return to their peaceful lives, they have to force the yokai to retreat. The first shall be one of the leaders, the fox-yokai, Tomoe." When a month had passed, in that time 500 years from the present, and Mikage was content with the passing of the word, he allowed his body and soul to be pulled back to the present. But he was not finished quite yet. There was still one more thing that he was required to do. He twisted the knob on the time turner and willed himself 21 years into the past.

* * *

Those three days were yet another hardship that Nanami had been required to endure. She felt disgusting too. But as she wandered out and away from the flaming forest, she found herself by a river… it was clean. There was no sign of pollution anywhere and there were even fish in its depths. So Yomi no Kuni could hold life too? Or so Nanami thought. Little did she know that they were just mirages for the sake of memory. The memory of the person that Nanami met not minutes later.

Just staring at the river made the mortal girl thirsty. Instead of listening to that voice in the back of her mind, she moved forward in a motion to cup the water into her hand. Then, she thought in an almost rabid way, she would be able to soothe her parched throat… she was SO thirsty.. A hand slapped her own away from the water and she was pulled back away from the riverside.

"You stupid girl! You come from the upper land, but you know of no customs!" She was thrown to the ground harshly. "Do you even have a brain?! If you-," Nanami put her hand over her face to block the suns glare so that she could see the form of the person who was speaking to her in such harsh tones. By the voice, it was a woman, but by looks… a goddess. She was beautiful. Blonde curls held back in one of those more pretty looking loose buns. She had a hairpin that was made from a single plum blossom.

It was all Nanami could do to just stare at the girl in amazement. She didn't look much older than Nanami herself!

"You… you!" The girl screeched, pulling her up by her collar and looking into her eyes intensely. "You're Nanami!"

Nanami, at her name, blinked, and then screamed herself.

"E-eh?!"

Why was it that everyone she met seemed to already know her? "You're really really really truly Nanami! Oh my gosh!" The girl had helped Nanami to sit up, brushed her off, and had apologized for her rude behavior, though the reason behind her actions remained unknown to the brunette. The other girl's excitement had been enough to wipe clean her naughty slate and the action had been forgotten about.

"I-I'm sorry… do I know you?"

"Do you not remember?" The girl held her at arm's length away, obviously taking great measures to pull away from Nanami and stop hugging and fussing over her like some sort of doll. It took Nanami a long while to explain just all that had happened to her, and everything that had been told to her… and just as Kuromaru had done, when Nanami spoke of having to find Akura-ou's body, the girl tightened her grip on Nanami's shoulders. She looked pained, but she let Nanami finish her story before she spoke again.

"Well… that's quite an adventure.." she started out, "but are you sure that you can get your memories back from this person, Kirihito?" Nanami shrugged and looked down at her hands, as she had pulled out the small black conch to show the nameless girl just what she was talking about.

"I think he can help me to remember…" Nanami bit her lip and looked up, her grip tightening around the shell. "And I want to be able to know what happened to me this past year."

The woman's reply was quick, not even missing a single beat. "Even if it costs you something dear to you?" Nanami thought about this for a moment and then shook her head.

"I would give up anything… absolutely ANYTHING, to return the feelings of everyone fully and completely. I don't want to pretend that I understand them. I want to be honest." Both were silent for a few minutes, the only sound was the river running over small round pebbles that had been eroded by it over time. The woman got up quietly and moved over to the riverside, grabbing a stone and, after transforming it into a cup, she brought it back to the girl on the grass.

"Big brother said that this would happen someday. I think he can predict the future…" She tightened her slender fingers around the stone cup and then knelt down next to the mortal, extending the drink to her. "But I do not want your future to become like he said it would. Seeing as this Kuromaru has already done _that_… I see no harm in this. Drink, Nanami, and become strong."

Before she accepted the cup and brought it to her dry and cracking lips, Nanami thought of something that she desperately wanted to ask the lady. It dripped from her lips as blood would a dying man. "What's your name?"

"My own?" The beautiful girl put a hand on her chest and then smiled, tilting her head to the side, causing small bells to tinkle happily. "My name is Yonomori. You helped me become strong when I was a youth." Yonomori… Yonomori… where had Nanami heard that name before? She knew it—it had been introduced to her recently, actually. She knew it! But she just couldn't place the location where she had heard it. Perhaps she hadn't been paying close enough attention to the person who had said it…

"Nanami, I want to return your kindness." The teenager looked up, confused.

"You already have!" She motioned with the cup full of crystal clear water and Yonomori shook her head, the expression on her face a little sad.

"No… that was something I shouldn't have done. Wait here, please."

At least an hour passed before Yonomori returned, and even then Nanami still couldn't put a finger on just where she had heard about the woman. In the goddesses hands was a carefully wrapped parcel. She unfolded it when she reached the previous Land God and she draped the gift over Nanami's shoulders.

"This is the robe of the fire-rat, it will protect you from virtually anything. Please use it wisely." Yonomori hesitated and then pounced forward, engulfing the girl in a tight embrace that she never wanted to get out of. When the two said goodbye and went their separate ways, Yonomori promised that they would meet again sometime. The same thing that Kuromaru had said…

Yonomori's way of helping Nanami turned out to be quite a useful tool, especially when Nanami went back to the flaming forest and adorned the gift. Beautiful red cloth… stitched with love and made for those who were brave enough to wear it. It was a wonderful device that had been made to protect loved ones. As she pulled up the hood of the robe, she turned back and stared over her shoulder. Yonomori. Ah! She knew the place where she had heard it now! When Mizuki had been speaking about his God that had long since gone away, leaving him at a shrine that he had brought Nanami to (which she did not remember because of her memory again)… The plum blossom in Yonomori's hair… Nanami felt her heart clench as she turned back into the forest and walked through the flames.

She found the body she had been told about surprisingly fast. She was not burned… and she couldn't even feel the heat of the blue flames around her. The body was in the center of the forest, atop a pile of rocks, sitting as a gargoyle does, eerily still. Nanami brought out the black conch shell and stared at it, thinking about the consequences if she carried this action out. But she crushed the shell in her hand and dropped the pieces to the ground, watching as they withered away like dying flower petals before her eyes.

* * *

In his room, Kirihito sat up, alert and full of life. The mirror… it was reflecting light that was not present in the room itself. He stood up and walked towards the object, stepping onto it and staring down at his feet as he was enveloped in light. It was time. He was finally going to be able to get his body back! That stupid girl… was she so desperate to regain her memories? She was a fool to think that he would bow to her and give her information that he could use as blackmail against her.

In the corner, Yatori looked up, awakened from his drowsy nap… and he flung himself forward.

"YATORI! GET OFF!"

"Nuuuuu… What if you get hurt?! I'll protect you! And be the first one to pledge myself to Akura-ouuu!"

But even if Kirihito wanted to push the strangely clingy demon away, it was too late. Light encased their flesh bodies and they were sent into the darkness that would eventually put them where the black conch had been broken.


	6. 六

_Note: Hello readers of Synchronicity! Thank you for coming this far! Today I learned that Sky of Snow Translations (go go like their facebook page! They do a fantastic job of uploading and they should receive the credit they deserve) is cleaning the raws of Kamisama Hajimemashita chapter 100. I was confused! Chapter 100 wasn't supposed to be released until the 20__th__! So I went searching and found the raws. OH MY GOSH. GUUUYSSSS. I have to hurry with my story or I'll never finish it before the manga is finished/ school starts! So, without further ado, here is chapter six of Synchronicity!_

_And my deviantart didn't show up a few chapters ago. So here it is again. Go to deviantart . com and search for fullmetalheartbeat. I already have chapter one of Synchronicity up, so you should find me quite easily! Remember to please watch me and friend me there! I'll be inclined to write more stories if I know people appreciate that it does take time to come up with the muse and write them all out. Thanks again for reading!_

* * *

六

_"If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?"  
__**― **_**_T.S. Eliot_**

Not moments after the shards of the conch hit the soil did light start to break through the ground, filtering upwards, and eventually bringing in not one, but two bodies, first as silhouettes in with it. Nanami put her arm up over her eyes in order to block the light. When it faded, and she allowed her eyes to readjust, Nanami peered from under the hood of her red cloak. Was this… Kirihito? The boy looked quite normal, actually. Just like a person her age would… but there was something about those eyes that made her uneasy. And the aura he was giving off wasn't exactly normal either. Who…or what was he? And the man behind him didn't exactly raise Nanami's hopes on the idea that these people were good guys. His eyes, too, were strange. Almost as if a sort of high had set in behind them, and his brain was on a frenzy. Even the way he held his body was hinting at an odd creature. But who was Nanami to judge on appearances?

It was a silence that set in between the trio that eventually made the situation much more dramatic than it should have been. Kirihito made no move to show any interest in Nanami. Instead, as he appeared before her and materialized into flesh and blood he moved forward and walked right past her, aiming for the body of Akura-ou instantly. There was expectation in those eyes of his. His mouth was parted, though no sound came out at all. His slender fingers splayed, straining towards the lifeless body among the rocks. And when he touched it, an uneasy feeling set itself within Nanami's stomach. There was something wrong here. Something horrible was going to happen, wasn't it? Was that disaster the price she had to pay to get her memories back? She stumbled backwards, her spine knocking up against a tree trunk, the robe still settled over her human flesh. The other man, with the mane draped over his own shoulders and a mask upon his skull, paid her no attention at all. Instead, he watched with hungry eyes as Kirihito took the body, lifted the shoulders and held it as one would a comrade, in his arms.

What Kirihito did next frightened the girl a little bit. He bit into his wrist, drawing blood, and then he smeared the scarlet colored liquid over the face of the body and he started mumbling words that Nanami could neither hear nor pick up on entirely.

"What… what is he…" She questioned quietly, mostly to herself, but the words had come out loud. The man in front of her turned his head in her direction and smiled greedily. The hair on the back of her neck stood up straight. Perhaps a shock of lightning had gone through her, the way she was reacting to his stare.

"He is reunited. He is becoming Akura-ou!" The strange man's hands clenched by his sides and he bit his bottom lip, turning it the same color as the blood now smeared across the body's features. He whispered something else, something sinister sounding that Nanami didn't pick up on. But after a minute, Kirihito's head bowed, his voice ceased it's volume and he seemed… dead. It was now that the man launched himself forward after drawing a sleek dagger from the insides of his yukata. "But I have waited for this power for much too long to give it back to him!"

Nanami stared, hardly believing what she was seeing with her own two brown eyes. Moments before the maned man reached Kirihito and Akura-ou, Nanami sent herself forward, vainly trying to reach the trio before something bad happened. Kirihito was helpless now. There was no one else around. Kuromaru and Yonomori had disappeared—and although the two had promised to meet her again, it would seem that now was not that time. She looked up, hope fading from those spirited eyes of hers. The man… his image flickered. He, for a moment, was not a man at all. Those crazed eyes were the same, but the physical body changed. He was covered in fur… and he was enormous. Tall and foreboding. His mug was parted, with sharp teeth glinting in the dying light. Was he… GOING TO DEVOUR THEM?!

"WITH YOU IN MY STOMACH, I SHALL BE INVINCIBLE! YOUR POWERS WILL BE MINE!" Disaster. This was chaos in the most raw form, wasn't it? There was nothing that Nanami could do. She couldn't move fast enough to stop the rebellion that this mountain of fur pursued. Still she tried. She moved forward, her hands slamming into the earth, pulling up soil and rock with them when she scrambled.

"NO!" She screamed as the man got closer, the mountain of fur disappearing as he changed back to the image of a man. An estranged, insane man. A flash of light flew from behind her, dashing forward like some kind of heaven-sent firefly. It tip-toed around the soon to be murderer's legs, then stopped in front of Kirihito and a small dome, large enough to cover both the black haired boy and Akura-ou's body, was erected. The light faded and in its place was that same little monkey that Nanami had seen following her. She had tried to shoo it away! The blade that the freaky man carried collided with the barrier and at that time, the blue fire of the forest… a sudden gust of wind seemed to echo around the area where Akura-ou had been resting, and it was put out. The sky, as the sun was setting, took on a crimson hue, accompanied by oranges and yellows and a dark blue cloak that was just starting to descend over the other colors.

It was now that a thought flashed through the brunette's mind. A monkey—turning into a small boy with but an apron to cover his baby flesh. Short, cropped hair and a funny looking cowlick sticking straight up out of his head. _Mamoru._ Mamoru. Who was… was that the monkey's name? Nanami strained for that memory, partially freaked out because she had not expected it to come to her at all. Was this Kuromaru's promise? Was this what she had wanted all along? She strained for those memories. She yearned to grab hold of them, and she splayed her fingers out, touching them briefly before they shied away from her grasp, disappearing into the darkness.

"Mamoru!" She gasped, realizing that what had jumped in front and put up a sort of barrier was the same monkey that Nanami had seen in her mind's eye. A shikigami… that SHE herself had raised! To protect those who needed protecting… And the man turned to look at her, disappointment, rage, and confusion scrawled all over his facial features. He was pissed. He stood up straight and rubbed the back of his head, putting two and two together.

"So this little thing.. is your doing?" He swept a tongue over his cracked lips and then shrugged before narrowing his gaze and turning to face her. He raised the weapon in his hand and casually tossed it so sharply that it sank into the ground beside his very feet. He sighed, rubbed some dirt off of his cheekbone and glared at her trembling form on the ground a few feet away from where he was. "Pesky human…" His mouth opened wide, revealing two rows of sharp, pointed teeth dripping in disgusting saliva. Nanami recoiled and drew herself back, hitting her back against that tree once more. As she panicked, he shot forward, slamming his hand around her throat and bashing her skull up against the tree bark. "You'll regret your interfering with my power!"

* * *

_Note: This chapter was kind of short now that I look at it! But the next one is promising to be a long one… with all the stuff going on it… I needed to leave the readers at a cliffhanger though, so that you'll come back for more… remember, reviews are ALWAYS appreciated! Thanks guys!_


	7. 七

_Note: Wow! Hello everyone! We only have three more chapters after you read this one! Isn't that strange?! I thought that this story would be so hard because it required a lot of thoughts to be brought to light, happenings to be looked at, and for other things to be put in. In fact, I totally left Kurama out of the story because I didn't really have the patience to put him in… It seemed to me like Nanami would experience a lot more drama if she found out who he was… Her view on him might change and she might've fallen for him… :[ so NO. This is a Tomoe x Nanami fanfiction. _

_Anyway, I was going to wrap this up two weeks ago but I couldn't find time… I don't want to lose muse on it when I'm this close to finishing it! How is it so far, by the way? I promise that the story will be completed by New Year's! Please remember if you have any questions, concerns, or requests, all you have to do is contact me! I will ALWAYS reply! :) _

* * *

七

_"I am lost without you. I am soulless, a drifter without a home, a solitary bird in a flight to nowhere. I am all these things, and I am nothing at all."  
__**― **_**_Nicholas Sparks, Message in a Bottle_**

* * *

"Pesky human…" His mouth opened wide, revealing two rows of sharp, pointed teeth dripping in disgusting saliva. Nanami recoiled and drew herself back, hitting her back against that tree once more. As she panicked, he shot forward, slamming his hand around her throat and bashing her skull up against the tree bark. "You'll regret your interfering with my power!"

She was going to die. Nanami knew that she was going to die. As soon as her cranial hit the bark of the tree, and she heard herself exhale sharply… she knew that she was going to die. She could feel the heat welling in the back of her head, where she had collided with the tree. She could feel the blood as it crawled down her neck and into her collar line. She was going to die, and she wasn't ever going to know the reason as to why she was here in the first place. She winced as his grip tightened and her voice could no longer reach past her lips. Around her, the forest was withering away. The spell that had been cast on it had faltered, and the fox fire from before had turned into legit flames… the age old trees that had been blazing for years and years before now felt the selfish hand of time and they crumbled to the ground, crashing into one another and sending sparks in every direction known to man. Even the tree that she was held up against in a chokehold was starting to be demolished. The smoke… it was filling her throat and yet her lungs could grasp no air. The atmosphere and hold upon her were working together as allies… and what a team they made…

"Regret the day you were born, stupid girl… and perish, as you should." Yep. This was the end.

"The HELL are you doing in my Hell?!" Or not. A new guest caught the monster's attention and he turned his crazed gaze over to look at whoever had sent the words out into the open. Two hands grabbed the demon by his ankles, and he was pulled to the ground. Monsters they were. They were white, albino things that looked as if they were made out of clay. Luckily the grip that had been on Nanami's throat had lessened and she fell to the ground, free from her chains. The first thing she did was gulp in air. She had never been so glade in her life to have the ability to breathe. She shut her eyes tightly and tried to calm herself down. That didn't work at all.

"I heard from a guard that there was a disturbance but I didn't expect my gorgeous gift from the demon fox Tomoe to be in ashes…" Tomoe?! Nanami forced her eyes open and found that the man who had held her captive was stock still, frozen in time. She recoiled away from him, dragging the red cloak around her shoulders and shivering inside of its embrace. "Ah—a human. Don't be afraid. He's just been put in a state that is easy to get him into the dungeons with."

Nanami raised her brown eyes to peer at the face of the voice… and she was surprised to find that it was a face she knew quite well.

"T-Tomoe?!"

"Ah-hahahha!" The demon leaned back and cackled loudly. The guards beside him, dressed in armor that looked as if it were crafted from bones, chuckled as well. "No my dear. I am not Tomoe. I am the God of Yomi No Kuni… I took this form from your thoughts—don't you remember?" Another one?! Had she met him before? Vague memories of a meat bun flashed through her head but other than that, she was stupefied. He bent over and grabbed her face with his slim fingers, turning her so that she had to strain to not fall as she looked at him. "Then the rumors are true… our dear land god, Nanami Momozono has lost her memories… and for what?" He dusted a speck of ash off of the cloak that Yonomori had given her as a gift. "A mere fire rat's cloak? How stupid."

Nanami couldn't help but glare at him as he said this. She may have lost her memories, but she did not lose the ability to know that he was ridiculing her. "It's a gift from a friend!"

"Yes, yes, I know. And was the water as well?" He grabbed her wrist and hoisted her up to her feet, helping her to walk forward with his guards.

"Wait—Mamoru…" she turned her head to look back at her little shikigami… but she was horrified to find that he had collapsed, and there was no movement in his ribs, nor in Akura-ou's or the boy who had come… Kirihito? Were they… no…

"Hm? Oh them." But that was all the God of Yomi said. He did not make any move to go and get them, much less check to see if they were still alive. Instead he moved Nanami so that she was walking, once more, in a direction that would surely lead to some sort of destination… if he truly was a God then it would be a shrine, right? It was a pretty good guess.

** Time passes differently in different worlds. Whereas Nanami had been inside Yomi No Kuni for a week at most, brave Tomoe was still following the butterfly. He was tiring. The sun was starting to rise once more—two days had passed since he had been set upon the insect, and with every hour that ended, the butterfly would take a totally different course of action. He would appear in places that Tomoe was not expecting it to. Flicker out totally and be gone for minutes on end. The first time that this occurred, Tomoe screamed his rage to the heavens. He could NOT lose that creature. If he did, then hope would be lost as well. But as the end of the hour tolled nearer, Tomoe took it upon himself to look around at his surroundings. What he found made his audettes quiver in distaste. He had been led through ranges of mountains, into the cold tree-line and beyond. The place that he was marked on the map… Izumo? The butterfly fluttered in front of his pale face, distraught that the attention of the familiar had been moved not to the wanderings of a lone butterfly, but to the scenery surrounding them. Tomoe's amber portals flickered and he glared, narrowing his eyelids. His hand snatched out, hoping to engulf the thing in flesh. But it, without need to put in any effort, gently fluttered away, pestering Tomoe to finish his quest.

By the time he finally caught up to the creature, it was an hour past daybreak. But the insect had come to a complete and utter stop, resting upon a rock that the fox demon knew well. "The entrance to Yomi?" Curiosity flashed in the kitsune's windows, the compass suddenly going blank. Why Yomi? No mortal could survive in such an area… not without the attendance of a God that i—Tomoe stopped right as he was reaching for the insect made of light. Malice filled his features, sharpening his looks and poisoning his mind. These rocks were not the only entrance to Yomi no Kuni. It is said that certain demons can procure the measures of entering the land of the dead should they try hard enough. The only one that Tomoe could think of was someone who had passed long ago. Wasn't that impossible, though? The demon brother of his, Akura-ou, had been dead for decades… centuries. There was no way that he had clung on to his hatred for that long… long enough to—Tomoe closed his fingers in and around the butterfly. The light from the insect spread to the rock, shattering it into thousand s of tiny pieces.

When the debris fell away, Tomoe turned his head so that he was looking down into the chasm of darkness. If he stepped into here… there was no guarantee that he, or anyone else, would be able to return to the surface. No guarantee at all. And this was frightening to him. He was frightened. Imagine that—the demon who once struck fear into the hearts of both mortal and immortal men… was afraid. Of what? Tomoe knew exactly what. If he never saw her again, he could not go on. She was a fool, and he had the need to protect her in him. He loved her. And that will make a man do anything at all. He had not treated everything like it would be the last time. His greatest regret was how much he had believed in the future. So blind he had been. So utterly blind and dumbfounded by her presence that he had forgotten what life was like before her. He had not even taken into account what life might be like without her.

**From the ashes left behind by the confrontation between the great beast and Nanami Momozono, there arose a figure that the world had not seen in half a millennia. Embraced by shadows and protected by the cover of night, he rose, swaying in the newness of his original body. Long maroon hair cascaded past his abdomen, brushed back by an imaginary breeze. Horns protruded from his skull, canines, along with every other bone in his mouth, sharpened. Yellow, glittering eyes looked up as the demon rolled his head back, basking in the joy of his own skin. Laughter shook his form. Unheard laughter that could only be understood by the creature himself. But, as he marveled at his hands, the way the flesh moved over bone… the renewed power that he could feel within himself, he pursed his fine, defined lips.

Getting into Yomi no Kuni was easy. Getting out of it was going to require time and effort. He turned his head in the direction of the woman's stench. Had she always smelled so delectable? Her scent matched right in with the perfume surrounding peaches when they had just been plucked from a tree limb. He was going to take off after it, track it down and indulge himself in it… but something else caught his eye before he could move. Flesh. The human body that he had been trapped in. He grabbed the arm of it and with a sharp movement, ripped it off. Then he devoured everything. If there was a perfectly good meal right in front of him, why let it go to waste? As he finished, popping the last piece of well-muscled flesh into his mug, he heard a rustle in the tree that Nanami had been cornered against. He snapped his head to the side, flinging a sharpened bone in the direction of where the sound had come from. After waiting a few more moments and hearing nothing that would hint to any sign of life, the man turned and began to shorten the distance between himself and the God of Yomi no Kuni. There was, after all, a single way that would ensure a soul the ability to escape the Land of the Dead. One merely has to end the God.

Hail, mortals and immortals… the feared Akura-ou.


End file.
